


ash and shadow (here comes the hero)

by ladybubblegum



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Space Whales
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 04:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15856644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybubblegum/pseuds/ladybubblegum
Summary: On a routine mission, the crew encounters a gentle race of alien creatures and Jim has to make a difficult decision





	ash and shadow (here comes the hero)

**Author's Note:**

> written for the prompt "space whales" for tumblr user waywardconsultingtimelady. :)

_Captain’s Log, Stardate XXXX.xx_

 

_As we approach the outer reaches of the Neikea Galaxy, we have been hailed by the government of a small but respected Federation planet with an ambassador that is in need of transportation to and from a nearby peace conference. It’s not exactly the thrilling adventure most Starfleet cadets dream of, but a break from the monotony might be a good thing. The planet Ananke is thankfully on our projected route through the solar system, and it’s not exactly a hardship to lend a hand to a much-loved ally, especially one with such lovely beaches and so close to our scheduled shore leave._

 

_Tension on the ship, while not interfering with normal operations, has recently been increasing, and it’s my hope that a break is what the crew needs to lift the spirits. They’ve certainly earned it._

 

\---

 

The transporter platform whirred and lit up as the Ananke ambassador and her party beamed aboard. Jim Kirk stood just behind the control board with Scotty, hands firmly folded behind his back, Spock at his side in a similar position. Jim could feel sleep tugging at his eyelids and he resisted the urge to yawn; it had been a long week and he was ready for the shore leave he’d been hoping to plan for the few days following their latest mission.

 

He leaned as subtly as he could into Spock’s side, thoughts on their lover currently hard at work in sick bay. Bones had been putting in quite a bit of overtime lately, with Dr. M’Benga having fallen mildly ill and the tense, antsy crew being more accident-prone than usual. Jim was looking forward to dragging him into bed and not letting him leave until all three of them had...worked out their tension, so to speak.

 

The glittery golden swirls of the transporter faded to reveal the ambassador and her security team, three strong-looking young men with hard faces and straight backs. The ambassador herself, however, was the vision of serenity; her bright round face showed the hint of a smile and a warm twinkle in her eye, hands folded in front of her. Once they were safely transported, with a short pause to be sure the transfer had truly completed, she stepped forward, waving off the nearest security guard that jumped forward to go ahead of her.

 

“Captain Kirk, I presume?” she greeted warmly as Jim stepped forward as well. She held out a hand for him to shake. Her grip was firm and strong. “I am Ambassador Rhea. We are very grateful for your assistance, and hope that we are not taking you too far out of your way.”

 

Jim flashed her a charming grin that he hoped didn’t betray any of his exhaustion. “Assisting Ananke will never be out of our way,” he told her. “We have your rooms ready for you and we’ll be en route to Bia shortly. Shouldn’t take more than a day to arrive.” At her acknowledging nod, he continued. “Commander Spock will show you where you’ll be staying for the night, and if you find yourself in need of anything, our staff is reachable by comm.”

 

As the party headed out of the room, Jim’s thoughts turned to Bones. Spock would be in their quarters shortly, but lately Bones had been pulling a few too many all-nighters, and both Jim and Spock were concerned that eventually he would burn out. He nodded toward Scotty on his way out the door and headed for the sick bay.

 

He found Bones sitting at his desk, head leaning against his palm with a PADD in front of him. Even though Jim couldn’t see his face clearly, the man was tension personified, shoulders drawn tight, posture hunched over. For half a second, Jim felt bad for letting it go on for so long--both as the captain of the ship and as his lover.

 

“Putting in more overtime?” Jim asked softly from the doorway to announce his arrival. Even with the softness of his voice, Bones still startled as though someone had blown a bullhorn directly in his ear.

 

He scowled at Jim. “Good Lord, I’m gonna put a bell on you one of these days,” he griped, an old threat. Jim grinned as he crossed the room to stand beside him.

 

“You can get a pretty collar for it and everything,” Jim told him, making him roll his eyes.

 

“One of these day, I’m gonna take you seriously,” Bones warned, shaking his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be off greeting ambassadors or something?”

 

Jim shrugged. “She’s greeted and sent off to the guest quarters,” he explained. “And anyway, there was a more pressing issue that I needed to address.”

 

“What issue?” Bones replied in alarm, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Another injury?”

 

Jim folded his arms. “When was the last time you slept a full night?”

 

Bones froze and turned toward Jim abruptly, and Jim could finally see what a toll the last week was taking on him. Bags hung dark beneath exhaustion-reddened eyes. What parts of him that weren’t tightened up in anxiety, drooped as if he were having trouble finding the energy to keep them up. He looked like the “before” image of an advertisement for a sleep aid.

 

“I sleep every night,” Bones told him, his words clipped and his eyes narrowed.

 

If Jim were anyone else, he might consider being intimidated. “Eight hours, every night?” he asked, already knowing the answer, and Bones had the sense not to try to lie to one of the men who shared a bed with him. Jim lifted his hand and gestured toward the door. “Please come back to the room with me. You have your comm on, literally every single person on this ship can reach you at a moment’s notice, and we both know that Christine is more than capable of holding down the fort.”

 

“Damn right!” came the woman’s voice from the other side of a nearby office door. Jim grinned and raised his eyebrows at his lover.

 

“Fine, fine,” Bones relented, pushing himself up out of his desk and following Jim’s lead toward the door. “But you and Spock owe me some attention in the morning, you hear?”

 

They would have given that to him anyway, but Jim didn’t say so. “Your wish will be our command. Promise.”

 

He still grumbled the whole way back. Jim wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

\---

 

Considering the Enterprise’s track record with “boring, routine” missions like that one, no one expected anything to go well--but the universe apparently decided to throw them a bone that time.

 

The ambassador was dropped off, the conference went off without so much as a foul word being exchanged, and the entire happy party was back aboard within 24 hours. Even the gruff Ananken security men appeared in better spirits, and Jim had even caught one of them making time with a young Engineering woman in the mess hall.

 

Their final shift before shore leave officially began was nearly over. Jim had daydreams of warm beaches and fruity drinks and curling up beside his lovers in the biggest bed Anake’s lodgings had to offer. The ambassador had arranged everything for them in thanks for their service and adamantly refused to take a single credit from any of them. Jim had warned the entire crew to be on their absolute best behavior.

 

So of course he should have anticipated it when, right before the overnight crew was due to relieve them, an alert sounded near Spock’s station.

 

Jim groaned. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance that’s a nice, _peaceful_ alarm that heralds the arrival of a basket of puppies?”

 

Spock lifted his head from the screen he was concentrated on to stare at him, eyebrow raised.

 

“I didn’t think so,” Jim said, sighing. He settled back into his chair. So much for shore leave.

 

“Captain, there seems to be a large mass approaching Ananke at a very rapid speed,” Spock announced. “I’m having trouble locking sensors on it, but at my best estimate, it appears to be the size of a small planet.”

 

“A large mass of what?” Jim asked, frowning. “Can you get it on the viewscreen?”

 

Before Spock could respond, Uhura called from her station, “Sir, hail from Ananke.”

 

Jim sighed. “I wonder what they could be calling about,” he said sarcastically, then addressed the communications director. “Patch them through, Lieutenant.”

 

He half expected, illogically, to see the Ambassador’s smiling face on the large screen before him, but instead it was someone he hadn’t met before, with wide eyes and a sweaty brow.

 

“Captain Kirk, I presume,” the man greeted him, voice strained. “I am Doctor Crius. I have some distressing news that I think might be relevant to you and your crew.”

 

“If it’s about the object heading in your direction, then you’re a bit behind,” Jim told him. To his left, Bones appeared at his elbow, no doubt drawn to the bridge by the alarm. “We’re aware of it already.”

 

The man shook his head. “Not just the object’s existence, but what it is. We’ve seen them close before, but not like this.” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “If it doesn’t change course, I fear what could happen. I merely wish to warn you before you beam down for your shore leave. Now might not be the best time. I’ll send you what I have.”

 

The screen switched off to show the window again. Jim stared at it until Uhura’s station began to beep again with incoming messages.

 

“Sir, the Ananken are sending over their findings,” Uhura announced, “Sending it to you and Commander Spock.”

 

The information hit his screen and he almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

 

“Space whales!” he cried, sending the pictures to the screen.

 

“Captain,” Spock interjected, “I believe the proper terminology for this creature is--”

 

“Oh hush, Spock,” Bones cut him off. “It’s an actual space whale.”

 

The species had been discovered no more than twenty years previously, a herd of them living just outside the known universe. They were impossibly large, the smallest of the herd easily three times the size of Earth. While they’d had an actual, scientific name, their shape and the whalesong-like keening they used to communicate had solidified the term “space whales” among the Federation. Jim had never seen one himself and hadn’t thought he ever would.

 

Jim glanced over at Bones, intending to get his two cents, but paused when he saw the man frowning at the display screen, seemingly deep in thought.

 

“Bones?” he called out softly, reaching out and brushing his fingers along his wrist to get his attention. Bones startled a bit but recovered quickly, nodding at Jim. “What’s wrong?”

 

Bones shook his head and turned back to the screen. “I don’t know for sure. Just a feeling.”

 

“I trust your feelings,” Jim told him. “They’re usually not far from wrong.”

 

There were a few tense moments in which Bones was quiet before he announced, “Something’s not right.” He glanced down at Jim and continued, voice tense. “I’m not exactly an expert on these things, but I remember studying them for a bit when I was in med school. Wrote a paper on ‘em. They stay away from populated areas, too many planets to crash into. And they travel almost exclusively in family units.”

 

Jim sighed, following the logic. “So what is this one doing in the middle of a highly populated solar system all alone?” The creature’s behavior was clearly erratic, but Jim didn’t want to assume the worst without some proof. “Can your team look into it?”

 

“I think Dr. Kzikzexn and her team worked with them a few years ago, she might be able to shed some light on what’s happening with this one,” Bones told him, crossing his arms. Jim vaguely remembered meeting her, a woman from somewhere in the research department with light blue skin and a warm smile.

 

Over by the science station, Spock lifted his head. “I would confer with her sooner rather than later, Doctor,” he announced, swiping at a screen in front of him full of data and numbers that Jim couldn’t hope to begin to understand. “At its present course and rate of speed, it will collide with Ananke in approximately twelve hours. A collision of that magnitude will certainly destroy everything on the planet--and us, if we do not gain enough distance from the point of impact.”

 

Stunned silence followed the grim announcement, and Jim found himself asking, “Are you sure?” but even as the words left his mouth he knew his answer. Of course Spock was sure. He very rarely wasn’t.

 

“I’ll go see what I can do,” Bones told him softly, laying a hand on Jim’s arm briefly and letting it linger just a moment longer than he normally did while trying to keep their interactions strictly professional.

 

Jim watched him go, then turned back to the screen, daydreams of his shore leave forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> part 2 should be completed and posted sometime this weekend!


End file.
